Conventionally, various cationic surfactants have been used to impart flexibility to fibers and hair (Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, cationic surfactants have problems such as skin irritation and adverse effects on the environment due to their poor biodegradability. It has been proposed to use amidoamines for remedying such problems (Patent Documents 3 to 6), however, adsorptivity and smoothness are not sufficient.
Incidentally, amide alcohols are known as an oil gelling agent (Patent Document 7); however, their conditioning effect has not been known.